This isn't a conspiracy theory. It's a documented business practice used by some of the biggest names in ecommerce, travel, and ride-sharing. And it's completely legal.
The Evidence Is Everywhere
Uber's "Surge" Pricing
Uber's algorithm doesn't just raise prices when demand is high — research suggests it may consider your phone's battery level and how frequently you pay surge prices. Users who consistently accept higher fares may see them more often.
Amazon's Price Fluctuations
Amazon changes prices on millions of products multiple times per day. Studies have shown prices can vary based on your browsing history, Prime membership status, and even the time of day you're shopping. The same product can cost different amounts depending on who's logged in.
Airline "Personalization"
Airlines have been caught showing higher prices to users on Mac computers vs. PCs, and to users who have searched for the same flight multiple times. Your perceived desperation becomes a pricing signal.
Hotel Booking Sites
Major hotel booking platforms have shown different prices based on whether you're browsing from a wealthy zip code, using a mobile device, or have cookies indicating you've searched for luxury accommodations before.
How AI Price Discrimination Works
Modern pricing algorithms ingest dozens of data points about you, then calculate your "willingness to pay" — the maximum price you'll accept before abandoning your cart.
Data Points Used Against You
The algorithm's goal is simple: charge each customer the maximum they're willing to pay. If you're on a Mac in a wealthy neighborhood and you've viewed a product three times, you might see a price 10-20% higher than a first-time visitor on an Android phone.
Is This Legal? (Mostly Yes)
Price discrimination based on personal characteristics like race or gender is illegal. But price discrimination based on behavior, device, or location? Completely legal in most jurisdictions.
United States
No federal law prohibits personalized pricing. The FTC has expressed "concern" but taken no action.
European Union
GDPR requires disclosure of "automated decision-making" but doesn't ban dynamic pricing. New regulations are being discussed.
The Loophole
Companies call it "personalization" or "demand-based pricing" — framing that makes discrimination sound like a feature.
AI Made It Worse
Dynamic pricing existed before AI. But machine learning has made it:
Faster
Prices can now change in milliseconds, reacting to your behavior in real-time
More Granular
AI can identify micro-patterns humans would never notice — like buying behavior at 2am vs 2pm
Harder to Detect
Sophisticated algorithms avoid obvious patterns that would trigger investigations
Self-Improving
ML models learn what works and continuously optimize for maximum extraction
"The algorithm doesn't care if it's fair. It only cares if you'll pay."
How to Protect Yourself
You can't fully escape dynamic pricing, but you can make it harder for algorithms to profile you:
Use incognito/private browsing
Prevents sites from seeing your browsing history and cookies
Clear cookies before big purchases
Removes data that identifies you as a repeat visitor
Use a VPN
Masks your location so you're not priced based on zip code wealth
Compare prices logged out vs. logged in
Your account history can trigger higher prices
Check prices on multiple devices
iPhone users often see higher prices than Android users
Don't linger or revisit repeatedly
Repeated views signal high intent — and higher prices
The Bigger Problem
Dynamic pricing isn't going away. It's expanding. As AI gets better at predicting your behavior, prices will become increasingly personalized — and increasingly unfair.
The same technology that enables "personalized recommendations" enables personalized extraction. Companies frame it as giving you a better experience. In reality, they're optimizing how much money they can take from you specifically.
The only real solution is transparency — forcing companies to disclose when prices are personalized, and giving consumers the right to see the "base" price before algorithmic adjustments.
Until that happens, assume the price you see was calculated just for you.
"If you're not paying for the product, you are the product."
And if you are paying — you might be paying more than everyone else.